Sands of Time
by mistymidnight
Summary: Buffy gets sent back in time. (Not as dumb as it sounds...I hope.) She also finds a mysterious girl with a tie to Sunnydale's past. My first fic. so please be nice! COMPLETE
1. Buffy's Discovery

Sands of Time  
  
Rating: PG Timeline: Season 3 Author's Note: I don't know any Italian at all. I used the AltaVista Babel Fish Translator online. Despite my best efforts, I might've come up with something really, really random or rude. Please forgive. :-P  
  
Chapter one  
  
"Why do we have to learn history? It is by far the dumbest, stupidest, most unexciting..." Buffy Summers looked up and realized that she was talking to herself.  
"Giles?" She slung her backpack off her shoulder and plunked her history book down next to it rather roughly. Not like she cared. "Giles, are you here?"  
No answer.  
"GIIIII-LLLLEESSS!!!" she screeched at the top of her voice.  
"Miss Summers," said Principal Snyder, sticking his head through the library doors, "this is a library. Libraries are meant to be quiet. Much like this one was before you happened to come along."  
Buffy scowled. "Have you seen Giles?"  
Snyder gave her a look. "Mr. Giles. And no, I haven't. Though if I was in his position, I'd be avoiding you too, Miss Summers."  
"Well, if you see him—"  
Snyder opened the door the rest of the way and stepped into the library, pulling himself up so he looked taller than he really was. He was barely taller than Buffy, which was saying something. At 5'3, Buffy was one of the shortest people in senior class, but she never got lost in a crowd. She was loud.  
"I'm not the pony express. Where are you supposed to be, Miss Summers?" he asked her, waiting to find her in the wrong.  
"Here," she answered innocently. "Willow and I were going to hang out."  
Snyder clucked his tongue disgustedly. "Get a hobby, Summers." He pushed open the door and left, calling over his shoulder, "No loitering!"  
Buffy sighed. Giles was supposed to be training her today. If he wasn't showing, she was wasting her time...  
...or not. Buffy Summers, first-class snooper, she thought to herself, making her way to Giles's office, closing the door slightly behind her. Boring, she thought, skimming over the Watchers' Diaries. Bunch of old snots writing their observations of Slayer behavior. No thanks.  
Buffy began to hum a fifties tune that she had somehow gotten stuck in her head that day as she moved quietly through Giles's office. An open book on his desk caught her attention. It was leather-bound, red, and there was a colorful swirl on the page she was looking at. She picked up the book and read absently out loud to no one in particular: In sands or whispers It comes and goes Slipping away Through the eyes of man  
  
It can be mastered  
  
But even the tamed lion Is not without the wild. Pieghi il tempo Va Indietro  
  
Eventi persi  
  
Per voi da trovare1  
  
Buffy set the book down, her mind still struggling with the Italian pronunciation. How strange, she thought. Giles's taste in poetry just gets weirder and weirder. She hummed the fifties tune again, putting the book back down and gently brushing her fingers against the colorful painted swirl. Which suddenly began to move.  
"Oh, sh—!"was all Buffy managed to get out before she was sucked into the book.  
  
1"Pieghi il tempo...da trovare" "It folds the time It goes behind Events lost For you to find"  
  
A/N: SO, whaddya think? Like I said, I don't know Italian. For all you Italian speakers who are all irritated with my butchering of the language, please forgive. My second language is French, not Italian.  
Please review! Constructive criticsim welcome, please no flames. I'm new at this...sorta. Thanks! 


	2. Research and Magic

Chapter 2

"Buffy? Are you here?" Giles skimmed the library, looking for any sign of his Slayer. A-ha! There was her backpack, and her history book was next to it. He could tell it was Buffy's at a glance because of the hideous purple and pink paisley cover she had adorned it with. He would never understand the Americans' taste. Or lack thereof.

Willow rushed into the library after Giles, looking frantic. "Buffy? Buffy?" She looked around wildly, then noticed Giles standing just ahead of her. "Giles? Have you seen Buffy? I need her right now."

"Why, Willow? What's the matter?" Giles asked, concerned. 

 Willow began to slow down and catch her breath, realizing how she'd sounded. Here she was, acting like the world was ending, which it wasn't. At least, not today. 

 "She has my biology notes," Willow explained rather sheepishly. "We have this huge test on Monday and I need them for this weekend and—"  She cut off, looking at Giles's skeptical face. "It doesn't seem so important, now."

 "I daresay," Giles said dryly. "Buffy's supposed to be here with me, training. I hope she's all right."

 "Giles," Willow said, just a tad disbelievingly, "Buffy is seventeen. She probably forgot. Either that or she blew you off for a shoe sale."

"There are none around here," Cordelia told her, announcing her entrance to the library with the click of high heeled shoes. "I'd be there if there were. And I'm obviously not. There, I mean."

 "Thank you, Cordelia," Giles said sarcastically, "but Buffy was here. I just ran into Snyder, and he told me to control my students better, or something like that. I wasn't really paying attention, but he did say that Buffy was here."

 "She'd better not be hiding," Cordelia said. "I don't need any pranks." She clicked on over towards Giles's office.

 "Ya know, Cordy, no one really forced you here," Willow said. "Feel free to leave at any t—" she stopped short at the entrance to Giles's office.

 "What's your deal?" Cordelia demanded, turning to face Willow with a look of exasperation.

 "Don't you feel it?" Willow inquired.

 "Now that you mention it," Cordelia said, moving toward the slightly open window. "It is a little drafty. But don't worry. Giles was probably airing out his books or something."

 "Not that, Cordy. The magic."

 "Okay, you'd better be speaking in the literal sense, 'cause otherwise, that's just kind of corny. I know you love reading and all, but 'magic' isn't how I'd describe a library office."

 "I'm speaking literally," Willow assured her, distracted. She closed her eyes and put her hand out in front of her, trying to sense the spell whose remnants lingered in the air.

"Willow?" Giles asked gently. "What is it?"

 Willow ignored him, following the tingly feeling in her fingers across the room, where it nearly overwhelmed her. She picked up the book and skimmed over the open page, reading to herself. 

Giles came over and stood behind her, reading over her shoulder. 

 Cordelia, of course, was unimpressed. "Is this a meeting of the Sunnydale Book Club? Should I leave?" she asked.

"Go ahead," Giles murmured absent-mindedly. "Have a nice day."

 "Giles, you just told me to have a nice day."

 "I'm well aware of that fact, Cordelia."

 Cordy frowned. "Something is most definitely wrong. I'm staying." She paused and thought for a second. "I wonder how we'll fare without the guys helping out. Or at least, Oz and Angel helping and Xander doughnut running."

 Willow turned, speaking for the first time since her discovery of the book. "Why wouldn't Angel be helping?"

 "I believe he has an issue we normal folk call 'sunlight'," Cordelia pointed out. "With Oz in LA on that gig and Xander home sick, we're seriously short-handed. Just tell me what to do."

 Willow stared at Cordelia in amazement. She couldn't believe that Cordelia had just volunteered her Friday afternoon, probably her evening, and maybe even a good part of her Saturday to help research. 

"Thanks, Cordy," Willow said warmly, smiling at the other girl. "Could you go boot up the computer? We may need it."

"Sure," Cordelia said brightly. "It's like an all girl slumber party. Plus Giles," she amended quickly, seeing Giles's face. "Ta-ta!"

 Giles regarded Cordelia with a funny look on his face. "She's awfully chipper today." 

 Willow grinned. "It's amazing what a lack of anything better to do can do to her."

 "'She' is just in the next room!" Cordelia reminded them. "And what does this have to do with Buffy's no-showiness?"

 "I think she might have jumped time," Giles said thoughtfully, reading the passage near the swirl of color adorning the page. "The Italian refers to folding time and losing events, or something to that effect. I'd best consult my…other…books."

 "Ones that idon't/i send you back to the future?" Cordelia asked snidely from the other room.

 Giles and Willow ignored her. "May I see it?" Willow asked Giles, holding her hands out for the book. Giles placed it gingerly in her hands, fearing that he'd set off the time warp thing again. Willow's finger's brushed against the picture. 

 "Ouch!" she cried, dropping the book and jumping backwards. After a quick examination of her fingers, she stuck them in her mouth and began to suck on them.

 "What's the matter?" Giles asked, worried.

 "The book," Willow said. "The book burned me!"

 Giles carefully picked up the book and opened up to the page, hovering his fingers over the picture, then quickly tapping it. The book felt warm to him, unnaturally warm for a book, let alone one that had been sitting in his drafty office all day. "Cordelia," he called, "come here."

 Cordelia swept dramatically into the room. "Yes?" she asked. "You aren't gonna burn ime/i, are you?"

 "I don't know," Giles said, grabbing Cordy's finger and placing it on the book quickly. 

"What was the point of that?" she asked.

"You didn't feel it?"

"No, for the last time, I do not feel magic in the air, and have not since I went to Disneyland when I was seven."

Giles looked at Willow and Cordelia seriously. 

 "We have some research to do."


	3. Confusion and Cassie

Chapter 3  
  
A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the one big long paragraph format in that last chapter. If I might make a suggestion to make it easier to read, you could copy it onto Microsoft Word or something like that and put in paragraph and line separations as you so desire. A/N2: People are asking why Cordelia didn't feel the heat from the book. All shall be revealed...when I feel like it. (Ah! The suspense!)  
  
Thanks to buffy13-buffyspike4eva for the first review!! Yay! Thanks for the advice...but the translator didn't have Latin!! :-P  
  
Okay, on with the chapter...  
  
Buffy sat up groggily...in the library office. This is weird, she thought. Then she looked around. The décor was completely different than it normally was. In fact, the library seemed new, and shiny, almost. Glancing around at the bookshelves, she noticed several books that looked—wonder of all wonders—normal. As in, they didn't focus on the occult.  
  
This is REALLY weird, she thought.  
  
Getting up, she began to look around. No clues as to what might have happened to her. She poked her head into the library and on the banner over the door read: "Class of 1954: Submit all yearbook captions by February 3rd."  
  
Oh no, Buffy thought. I'm in the fifties?!?!  
  
*** "She's where?" Cordelia asked. "Somewhere back in time," Willow responded, grinding sage with her wooden bowl and a rock. "We just have to find out where...errr, when." She sprinkled some lavender into the mix. "Finally," said Cordelia, sniffing the air, "something that DOESN'T smell like dog breath." "Shh, Cordy, I have to do the spell now." Willow found that simple commands were best with Cordelia. Willow began to chant (A/N: oh, joy! More Italian! Sorry, no Latin) Riveli che cosa è stato perso It reveals that what has been lost Visione nebbiosa Foggy vision Capire perso To understand lost e per trovare And in order to find Denomino I call.  
  
Everyone waited. "Well, that was a bust," Cordelia said, getting up from her spot on the floor.  
"I guess," Willow said dejectedly, blowing out the candle she'd been  
using. Suddenly, Buffy's voice floated through the library, singing  
the fifties tune:  
"Johnny Angel,  
How I love you..." Willow's head snapped up and her eyes were shiny with pride and happiness. "That's it!" she exclaimed. "Buffy's in the 1950's!" "Gee, how do you figure?" Cordelia asked sarcastically. "We just have to figure out how to get her back," Willow said, gathering the spell ingredients and waving her hand around to disperse the smoke from the candle. "Giles?" Giles looked up from the book he'd been reading. "I think this may help," he said. "I'm not sure exactly how much, but it should prove at least slightly useful." "Okay, then," Willow said resolutely, "let's get to work." ***  
Buffy stood in the graveyard, which seemed to be the only place in town that was familiar. It's just wrong, she thought, to be more comfortable in a graveyard at nightfall than at your own school.  
She looked around. The trees were younger, and there were less graves, granted, but apart from that, everything was the same. Including...  
"Gotcha!" she said, spinning around and staking a vampire that was trying to sneak up on her.  
"Nice aim," said a voice behind her. The words were spoken casually, but Buffy could detect hints of caution and almost fear. Buffy spun yet again to face the speaker. It was a girl her age, taller with shoulder length brown hair that was straight about half the length before it became piles of soft curls. The girl's hair was held back from her face with a short scarf used as a headband. The girl wore a white shirt and black pants that cut off between her knee and ankle. She wore an oversized sports jacket that read "Sunnydale" on the back, which Buffy guessed the girl had borrowed from her boyfriend, and saddle shoes. Buffy grimaced at the shoes. A definite fashion-don't.  
"Who are you?" she asked the girl, more out of curiosity than necessity.  
"I should probably be asking you that question," the girl commented, still in the cautiously casual voice, "but my name is Cassie Hall. And you are?"  
"Buffy Summers."  
Cassie scoffed. "That your nickname?"  
"No that's my actual name."  
Cassie looked rather taken aback. "Oh. Sorry." She regarded Buffy's outfit, which Buffy could only describe as daring in fifties standards. She had on a black miniskirt with blue flowers and a vine embroidered on it, and a blue sleeveless shirt with cinched straps. The shirt consisted of two layers: a see-through, flowy top layer and a normal tight bottom layer. She had on a pair of flip-flops with blue denim straps.  
"Not from around here, are you?" Cassie asked.  
"You have no idea."  
  
A/N: Another chapter done! I'm thinking of starting another short story, but I'll keep updating this one, don't worry. There's nothing worse than a story with no updates!  
It also occurred to me as I wrote this chapter that I haven't written a disclaimer. Ha—Like I even have to! Everybody knows that I obviously don't own "Buffy", "Angel" or anything affiliated with them... if I did I'd be writing scripts for "Angel" from my beach house in Malibu, rather than fanfic from my (rsther modest) study at home. The only character I own (so far) is Cassie Hall, who decided to pop into my brain randomly yesterday.  
Okay, as usual, please rate! (no flames, please!) 


	4. Depressing Books and A Disturbing Dream

Rating: PG...as usual  
Disclaimer: If I owned Angel and Buffy, I'd be writing for them...and believe me, if I was, things would be WAAAYY different...  
Author's note: Thanks for the feedback! It makes my day, so feel free to send more along! Also, once again, sorry for the awful load of formatting crap that had to pass for chapter 2. I just can't figure out what went wrong...  
Also, I'm real sorry about how a new paragraph doesn't start after the quotations from each character. Once, again, my evil computer hates me.  
  
Willow slammed her book shut. "Waste of time," she declared, plopping it down on the 'useless' pile. "Who wants to read a book about the magical properties of goats, anyway?"  
"Aside from ritual sacrifices," Giles informed her, "they have no magical purpose."  
"Exactly!" Willow cried. "So why would someone write a book about it?"  
"I feel your pain," Cordelia said, turning and simultaneously tearing the page of a 14th Century book. Giles winced. "Oh, chill, Giles. It's called Scotch Tape." She turned her attention back to Willow. "Yeah, like this book, it talks about folds and wrinkles and age. Ugh, it's depressing me. It makes me wanna buy some makeup really bad."  
Willow had tuned out Cordelia, but Giles was not so lucky as to be immune to Cordelia's sometimes mindless chatter. "Really, Cordelia," he said politely, but Queen C cut him off.  
"Yeah, like this one passage right here. Listen to this: 'And the fabric of reality shall crumple and fold, and wrinkles shall become bridges." She looked up scornfully. "Huh, bridges to what, the Avon factory?"  
Giles and Willow were both staring at her. She looked back, then resumed her babbling. "Or maybe the bridges are to a plastic surgery clinic. Gosh, the only thing more depressing than wrinkles is the old lady smell."  
"Cordelia," Giles said patiently, "that book is very important."  
"No kidding, genius. It's old. Old things are important." She fixed her with a look of scrutiny and then added, "Most of the time."  
"No," Willow explained. "What Giles means to say is that that book holds the key to finding Buffy."  
"Well, excuse me," Cordelia said haughtily, handing the book over to Giles, who was clearly still irritated by the reference to his age. "I'm sorry if I'm just a mere mortal and not a witch or Watcher or whatever."  
Willow suddenly realized something. "That's why the book burned me!"  
"Hmmm?" Cordelia asked absently, producing a nail file from her purse and putting it to work.  
"It's a typical magical reaction to powerful or dark magic," Willow explained. "Oh, I'm so stupid!"  
"Uhh, still lost here," Cordelia said, clearly interested. Willow could tell because the steady whir of the nail file was gone and Cordy sat, focused on Willow. The girl shrank inwardly a bit at the attention.  
"I'm a practicing Wicca, of course I could feel the magic. Giles is a Watcher, and he's probably got a little magic left in him from his days as Ripper." Giles hated that term. "And Cordy, well...like you said, the only magic you've ever experienced is that of the Disney kind."  
Cordelia sniffed. "Let's keep it that way."  
Giles frowned. "Interesting as that was, I don't see how it's helping us find Buffy."  
Willow jumped up. "Right! Let's stay on task!" She practically dove into the pile of books. "Research Girl rides again."  
  
***  
  
"So, where are you from?" Cassie asked.  
"I'm not quite sure at the moment," Buffy told her. "Here, I think. But then again, everything is weird. And new. In an old kind of way." She glanced at Cassie. "Now you think I'm crazy."  
"No," Cassie said, "I don't." The look on her face clearly said otherwise.  
"Listen," Buffy said, "I know I sound like a nut, but hear me out. I was supposed to study in the library today with Willow—" this wasn't entirely true, but she wasn't about to let her Slayer secret spill to a complete stranger—"and I went in and I must've blacked out and this must be a crazy dream or something."  
Cassie leaned forward and pinched her. Hard. Buffy reacted accordingly.  
"Well, you're obviously awake," Cassie said dryly, giving her an apprehensive look. "So we—"  
She didn't have time to finish her sentence before they were attacked. 


	5. Gone

Chapter 5

            Disclaimer: Don't own 'em…I sorta wish I did, though. 

                        Sunnydale, California 1999

He dodged the incoming blow easily. This was a sad excuse for an opponent, to be sure. The vamp would be dust in seconds. 

            And, true to his predictions, the vampire exploded into dust, settling in Angel's hair and on his eyelashes. He blinked, and the dust fell into his eyes. It hurt. A lot.

            He picked his stake up off the ground and brushed the ashes from his clothes and tried unsuccessfully to remove some of it from his hair. Oh well. He was gonna live forever anyway, he had plenty of time to get it out. Besides, he had bigger things on his mind. This was the fifth vamp he'd encountered (not to mention staked) in the last ten minutes or so. Where was Buffy? 

            She should be out patrolling, on a night like this, with vamp activity going crazy.

            He pivoted and began walking briskly toward the library. Even if he didn't find Buffy, he could probably find some answers.

                        ***

            "Okay, now we have to find the St. John's Wort," Willow said, digging under the library desk. "I hope the janitors didn't clean it out."

            "We'd definitely heard from Rat-face if they had," Cordelia replied, using Xander's favorite nickname for Snyder. "Most of your hocus-pocus stuff looks like drugs."

            Willow wrinkled her nose. "You have a point." She fished around under the desk a bit more, then her head popped up. "A-ha!" she said triumphantly. "St. John's Wort!"

            Cordelia gave it a disapproving stare. "Which brings me to my next topic," she said. "Wart? Ewww."

            Willow gave her a stern look. "'Wort' spelled W-O-R-T, Cordy, not 'wart' spelled W-A-R-T."

            Cordelia sniffed. "It's still gross."

                        ***

                        Sunnydale, California 1954 

            Buffy and Cassie both landed hard on the ground, Cassie on her side and Buffy with her chin digging into the dirt. She felt blood in her mouth as the impact made her bite her tongue. Oh, great, she thought. Just what I need.

            She pushed herself up off the ground and gave a quick look around. Cassie was struggling, but she suddenly jumped up and ran toward Buffy, knocking her opponent out of the way and staking him simultaneously. He exploded into dust.  

Cassie was even closer to Buffy now, her stake ready. She's nuts! Buffy thought, tucking herself into a ball and rolling to the ground. She's trying to kill me!

But when she looked up, she saw that Cassie had not been trying to stake her at all. She was currently fighting a vampire that had been sneaking up behind Buffy. Buffy gave a little smile. She owed Cassie one.

Cassie battled the vampire for a few more seconds and dusted him as Buffy took a quick look at the surrounding area. The vamps were gone. She and Cassie seemed to be alone.

"So how long have you known?" Cassie asked, her tone conversational. 

"Huh—what?"

"That they existed?" Cassie said, gesturing to the area around her where the fight had taken place.

"Uhh—since I was fifteen," Buffy said a bit uncomfortably. "You?"

"Same here. I found out when I was called."

"Called?"

"Chosen One, and so on and so on. You too, huh?"

Buffy stood and gaped at Cassie. "You're…you're a Slayer?"

"The one and only." Cassie gave Buffy a quick glance. "I suppose." Her tone was definitely friendly now. She trusted Buffy. 

"I'm going to take you to my Watcher. We can figure this out," Cassie said, grabbing Buffy by the arm and leading her toward the edge of the graveyard. "Patrol can wait. We need to get you…back to wherever it is you're supposed to be."

            ***

            Sunnydale California 1999

Angel burst into the library, glancing around as he did so. "Where's Buffy?"

"Oh, hey, it's tall, dark, brooding, and incredibly handsome," Cordelia said dryly, focused on her current task of being put on hold by the guy at the pizza place. She drummed her fingers against the countertop and wrapped her other hand up in the phone cord. "What brings you here?"

"Buffy. Or the lack thereof."

"See, that's our teensy-weensy problem," Willow said lightly, pulling a spell book closer to her and double-checking the list of ingredients. "Buffy's sorta back in time." She nodded with a satisfied look and began to arrange the spell circle. Candles, incense, wooden bowl. This spell mostly just called for the basics. "I'm going back to get her."

"You can't go alone," Angel said.

"Right, because America in the 1950's was such a war zone," Cordelia muttered.  

"Why not?" Willow asked Angel, ignoring Cordelia altogether. 

"For one thing," Angel said, observing her outfit, "you'll stick out like a sore thumb." 

Willow looked down at her outfit. 

"For another thing, you don't know anything about that time. I think I should go with you."

"Sure I know stuff about the 1950's!" Willow protested. 

"Maybe the historical stuff," Angel said, "but not the other stuff."

"Puh-lease," Cordelia sighed. "All you have to do is watch _Grease_. She glanced at Willow. "Tell me you've seen _Grease_."

"Uhhh…" 

Cordelia made an aggravated sound. "Not only are you a beauty school dropout, so to speak, you've never seen the best musical of all time?"

Willow was surprised. Cordy didn't strike her as a musical fan. 

"Can we please stay on task?" Giles asked. "Willow, why don't you get the Watchers' Diaries from the fifties. You can read through them and see what kind of paranormal things were going on at the time."

"Okay," Willow said, skipping off to Giles's office to retrieve the books. "Be back in a sec."

            ***

Cordelia sat thumbing through one of the Watchers' Diaries. "Ewww. This Slayer—I forget her name—she was tortured by vampires and killed." She picked up another diary and flipped through it. "Ick—_this_ one dated her Watcher." Cordelia glanced at Giles and tried to imagine Buffy and Giles on a date. She succeeded so well, in fact, that she rubbed her eyes to try to get rid of the image. Willow squirmed uncomfortably, no doubt imagining the same thing. Giles cleared his throat. Angel looked rather disturbed. 

"Err, Willow, why don't why try that spell now?" Giles said, snapping his book shut.

"Uh, okay. Angel, you stand over here by me," Willow instructed. She then picked up the book, careful to pull her sleeves over her hands to prevent being burned again. She then read:

_In sands or whispers It comes and goes _

_Slipping away _

_Through the eyes of man  
It can be mastered  
But even the tamed lion_

_Is not without the wild._

_Pieghi il tempo _

_Va Indietro_

_Eventi persi  
Per voi da trovare_

She took a deep breath, as singing was not her forte, and sang, rather off key,

_Johnny Angel,_

_How I love you…_

The picture in the book was swirling, but she wasn't being sucked in. _What's going on? _she thought frantically. 

Angel figured it out. "It needs contact!" he said to her, grabbing her around the shoulders and touching the picture with his free hand. Willow felt the force weigh down on her, like the way you feel on a fast roller coaster that pushes you back against your seat. Then there was a pop, and then Cordy and Giles were the only ones in the library. "Wow," Cordy breathed. Then, "Oh, shoot!"

"What? What's the matter?" Giles asked, more than a bit frantic.

"That pizza guy never showed!"


	6. Buffy, Cassie, and Miss Ford

Chapter 6 

Disclaimer, etc. See previous chapters.

Author's Note: Hmm, not much to say. Thanks for the feedback. Keep it coming!

Buffy and Cassie stood on the front porch of a small but charming-looking house with a flower garden in front. Cassie knocked on the door, which opened after a moment, revealing a rather young woman, maybe in her late twenties, wearing a long gray skirt and a pale blue sweater over a white blouse. "Cassandra?" she said, a bit confused, looking at the oddly dressed stranger standing behind her Slayer. 

            "Miss Ford, this is Buffy," Cassie said. "It's her real name," she added, catching her Watcher's doubtful look. "She needs our help. She's…" Cassie lowered her voice. "She's a Slayer, too."

            "Oh my goodness," Miss Ford said. "That just isn't possible!"

            "Actually, I could tell you stories about that," Buffy said, recalling her first encounter with Kendra. 

            "Well, come in, Cassandra," Miss Ford said. Buffy noticed that she purposefully did not invite Buffy in. Hey, you could never be too careful in Sunnydale. 

            Of course, the lack of invite didn't stop Buffy. She strolled in after Cassie, admiring the decoration of the small house. It was quite cozy. "Nice place," she commented. Then she remembered, "Nice to meet you, Miss Ford." She placed her hand out to shake, and Miss Ford grasped it briefly in greeting. 

            "So, Buffy, what brings you to Sunnydale?" Miss Ford asked, leading them toward what Buffy guessed was the living room. It was nicely furnished in a Victorian style décor, with a fire going in the fireplace. A book was turned over on the arm of the chair closest to the fire, holding the spot. A fluffy cat glowered at Buffy from the sofa. 

            _This is so much like Giles_, she thought, soaking in the sights and feelings of the room. _Except for the cat._

             "I live here. Except, not now."

            "So you're just visiting?" Miss Ford stirred a cup of tea sitting on the end table between the armchair and the sofa.

            "God, I hope so." 

Cassie took a seat on the sofa and motioned for Buffy to sit as well, looking at her strangely all the while. Miss Ford shared the look. "What do you mean?"

"I got sent back in time," Buffy explained. "I came from 1999. I'm the Slayer now. Then. Whatever."

"So, you're from the future. But why are you here?" Miss Ford asked.

"Well, I found this book with a spell in it. I don't even know what I was thinking, reading it out loud. But then I started humming this fifties song and next thing I knew, I was waking up in the Sunnydale High Library, except fifty-five years before."

"How interesting," Miss Ford commented, sipping her tea.

"It's actually just really confusing," Buffy complained. "I don't understand how—"

There was a burst of light and to figures dropped to the floor in front of her.

"—you guys got here," she finished, changing her original sentence at the turn of events.

Angel looked up at her and smiled grimly. "Hey."

            Okay, so it was short. I've got some scrapbooking to do!

Hey guys! Thanks for the feedback!

Adia Starr  
a.k.a. Elizabeth O'Conner

lilmamaday

buffy13-buffyspike4eva

And who can forget the lovely folk who emailed me their feedback?

La Trom Mi

Freezyboncoolipants

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	7. Buffy, Cassie, Willow, Angel, and Miss F...

Chapter 7 

Disclaimer: La la la, I don't own them, still trying to get over it…la la la…this is me in Denial Land…

Author's Notes: Trying very hard to keep up the work on the story…if you care to read another one of mine you could try (Cordelia's Diary)

Okay, on with the story!

"Uh, hi," Buffy said, still trying to figure out what had happened. "What are you doing here?" 

            "Sitting on the floor," Angel answered simply.

            "Don't get smart with me," Buffy said. "I've had a very bad day. Fifty years' worth of them, in fact."

            "Okay," Angel said, beginning to get up, but finding an invisible barrier all around him. "Uh…little help here?"

            "Miss Ford, could you please invite Angel into your house?" Buffy asked, knowing what the answer would be.

            "Oh my…he's a _vampire?_" 

            "No," Buffy said curtly, "he's my boyfriend. And he's good. Please invite him."

            "Well…" Miss Ford was clearly torn between her trust of the Slayer and her distrust of vampires. In the end, neither really won out. "All right," she said cautiously. "Cassie, run over to the trunk and get a stake."

            Cassie held up her stake from patrol. "No need."

            Miss Ford closed her eyes for a moment, as if it would prevent any coming disaster. "Angel, I invite you into my home."

            The barrier dissolved and Angel got up, turning his attention to the unconscious Willow who had been partly hidden behind him.

            "Could you get some water?" he asked.

            Miss Ford left to get the water, leaving Cassie, Buffy, and Angel sitting in an uncomfortable silence.

            "Let me guess," Cassie said finally. "You're from the future, too."

            "You got it," Angel confirmed, putting his arm around Buffy as she sat next to him on the floor and leaned over toward Willow, accepting the glass of water and wet cloth Miss Ford handed her as she re-entered the room.

            "You're here to get Buffy?" 

            "You'd better be," Buffy said from her spot on the floor, bathing Willow's face with the cloth. Willow stirred and muttered something about pianos. "Here," Buffy said to her friend, giving her the glass of water and helping her hold it to her lips. Willow took a sip and looked around. "Where am I?" she asked.

            "1954, silly. You did the spell, you should know." Buffy smiled teasingly at her best friend in the world.

            "That's the when. What's the where?" Willow asked dizzily.

            "Miss Ford's house," Buffy explained quietly, trying to ease Willow back to full consciousness.  "She's Cassie's Watcher. Cassie's the Slayer these days."

            "Oh," Willow said, rubbing her head. "Ow."

            Seeing that Willow was okay, Buffy took hold of her hand and helped her up from the ground, trying to go slowly. Willow stumbled, and Angel jumped up to support her on the other side. Together they helped her over to the couch and sat her down next to Cassie, Buffy sat down beside both of them and Angel stood by the sofa's arm. 

            "Uh, who's this?" Cassie asked. 

            "This is Willow Rosenberg, my best friend," Buffy told her. She's probably the one who did the spell to get these two here. Am I right?" Willow nodded.

            "She's not a vampire," Cassie observed.

            "No, just mortal. Thus the unconsciousness."

            Suddenly, a rock came flying through the window, shattering the glass. 

***

Sunnydale, California 1999

Cordelia screamed as a brick came flying in through the library skylight, landing on the floor near the table. "Giles! Giles! Giles! GIIIIIIII-LLLESSS!!!"

            "I'm right here, Cordelia," Giles snapped, walking irritably over toward the brick. 

            "I've got glass in my hair, Giles!" Cordelia shrieked. "I'd just gotten out the demon slime, and now I have _glass_! Sometimes I wonder why I continue to hang out with all you guys!"

            "Cordelia, why don't you run to the locker room and take a shower?" Giles asked her.

            "I am going nowhere," Cordelia said stubbornly, seating herself at the library table. "I am staying right here where the weapons are."

            Giles sighed and handed her a book. "Read this, then."

Sorry, another short one. But _America's Most Wanted_ is on TV!!


	8. End of Days

Chapter 8 

Disclaimer: Nope, nope, nope, and ehhh…yeah. (Buffy, Angel, etc, and Cassie/Miss Ford.)

Author's Notes: SEND FEEDBACK!!! I want to know if I'm wasting my time writing this or not!

            Also, I realize that the last chapter was probably not as well-written as those preceding it. Please forgive. I was really tired.

Dedications: To Tracey, who read my stories and offered support _(staring contest)_, to Taylor, who listened to my very first 62-page-long fanfic over the telephone _("Someday, Simba, this will all be yours")_, and to Kitty for offering her constructive criticism on the rewritten version of my first fanfic. _(Buffy the Squirrel and jewel encrusted hardboiled eggs)_

If you aren't Tracey, Taylor, or Kitty and you don't get those italicized phrases above, congratulations, you're sane! (and have no psychic abilities.)

            Cordelia sat uneasily as Giles picked up the brick. "Well?" she asked him, trying to pick glass out of her hair without cutting herself.

            "It says, "There's no way to stop us. The—"

***

            "—end of days is here." Miss Ford finished. 

            "Well," Willow said. "I thought someone was trying to knock me out again."

            Buffy smiled at the weak joke Willow was making to ease the tension. Then a thought hit her. "But it won't be the end of days," she realized. "I'm from the future, and the world isn't overrun with demons or anything."

            "I think you were sent back for a reason," Willow said. "Maybe some greater power sent you back here to stop this from happening."

            "But it's never happened," Buffy pointed out. "There's no need. If I hadn't got sent back here, there wouldn't be an apocalypse in the first place."

            "Oh, no!" Willow said. Everything was falling into place. "Something evil's afoot, for lack of a better term."

            "When is something evil not afoot in Sunnydale?" Buffy asked.

            Willow shrugged. Cassie looked confused.

            "So you got sent to stop an apocalypse that never happened?"

            Willow shook her head frantically. "No, something evil sent Buffy back here, which means the present-day hellmouth is unguarded."

            Angel caught on. "Yeah, and anything that happens in the past, I mean now, will change the future, regardless of whether "— he winced—"Cordelia and Giles can stop the apocalypse in our normal time."

            "You guys left _Cordelia and Giles_ in charge of the Hellmouth?!" Buffy asked incredulously. "What were you _thinking_?"

            "I don't believe we knew about any apocalypses," Willow informed her best friend irritably. "Did we, Angel?"

            "A big 'no' on that one," Angel confirmed. "Sorry, Buff." 

            Buffy sighed. "Okay, let's stop this apocalypse so I can get back to the future and stop another one." She sighed. "It's times like these when I wish I got paid overtime."

***

Sunnydale, California 1999

            "Giles, why am I reading the Watcher's Diaries again?" Cordelia asked. 

            "Because they were useful in keeping your mouth shut," Giles mumbled through his glasses, which he was holding in his teeth. 

            "Oh that's it, is it? Fine," Cordelia said. "Two can play this game." She opened the diary and began to read. "'June 23, 1955. Cannot believe it has been more than a year since she was murdered.'" Cordelia looked up. "Are ya gettin' annoyed, Giles? Huh? Not yet? Okay. 'So brutally tortured, at the hands of those who were once her friends. The anniversary of her death was last week, and I sat alone all day. Roger tried to console me, but he could do nothing. He simply thought she was the neighbor girl. No, she was far more than that. My Slayer is gone. I have to accept it. I will put this chapter of my life behind me. I shall write no more. –H.D." Cordelia closed the book. "Not as useful as you thought, huh Giles? I can be _very_ annoying."

            "I know."

            "You don't say, Cordelia."

            "I _do _say," Cordelia objected. "_You_, Giles, are a big pain in the—"

            "A-ha!" Giles exclaimed. "Here's something: 'The Slayer shall be absent, and her comrades shall not raise a finger, but hope lies in they who—'"

            "Cut the yada-yada and get to the point."

            Giles sighed. "Cordelia, has anyone eve told you patience is a virtue?"

             Cordelia thought for a moment. "They might've _tried _to, but I probably didn't let them finish. I mean, who cares?"

            _How sad,_ Giles though, _that she can prove my point so very well._

            "The general idea," he found himself saying, "is that the Slayer is gone, her friends are gone, and you and I have to defend the world by ourselves."

            Cordelia, who had had her feet propped up on the library table in a very unladylike fashion, sat up, planting her feet on the ground. "What? That's not my job! You can't make me! Aren't I doing enough to help already?"

            Giles looked at her. "Fine, but if the world is destroyed, don't forget, the mall is part of the world…"

            "Say no more," Queen C commanded, picking up a book in one hand and a crossbow in the other. "Just give me something to aim for."

***

Sunnydale, California 1954

"So, where do the demons hang out around here these days?" Buffy asked, swinging a mace.

            "Graveyards." Cassie was walking alongside her with a sword and a stake. "Shady bars. The usual."

            "So, what's our first stop?" Willow asked, clutching her bag of spell ingredients. 

            "Definitely graveyard," Cassie said. "That's where we got attacked earlier."

            "Cassandra," Miss Ford called from behind them, "be careful with that sword."

            Cassie sighed. "Yes, Miss Ford." She turned to Buffy and whispered, "Miss Ford just got engaged to some man named Michael. Oh, I'm counting the days until she becomes Mrs. Henrietta Day. Maybe she won't worry so much." Cassie smiled happily. "I'm going to be a bridesmaid, too."

            "Does this Michael guy know about her Watcherliness?" Buffy asked. 

            "Not at all," Cassie said. "We'll just have to work harder to keep the secret, that's all."

            "So, what do your parents think of Miss Ford's engagement? Are they happy for her?" Buffy asked. She instantly knew it was the wrong question.

            "My father's dead, and my mother is too. I live with my grandmother. I love Gram, but it's more like I'm _her_ legal guardian instead of the other way around. She sleeps most of the time, and she's…she doesn't notice when things are amiss with the hours I'm out. I guess it works out well in that respect."

            "I'm sorry." Buffy found herself incredibly thankful for her own mother, and heck, even her father, God bless his deadbeat soul. At lest they had noticed she had burnt down her school. At the moment, she didn't know what was worse, negative attention or no attention at all. 

            "It's okay," Cassie said, trying to inject some brightness into her voice. "We have to take what we get. Life doesn't give you second chances."

            Buffy though about that for a moment. Cassie was right.

            "And besides," Cassie said wisely, "Perfect love is loving imperfection."

            _How true._

*****

Okay, another chapter done. Please forgive how long it took to update (*gasp!* two days!) but I had a teeny case of writer's block. Also, I needed to go shopping.

Thanks for reading, please review!!!!!! I thrive on feedback!


	9. Beginnings and Endings

Chapter 9 

Disclaimer: If you people are such big fans of Buffy to be reading fanfic of it, then you obviously know I did not create it.

Rant: Grrrrrrrrr! Just found out that Sarah Michelle Gellar will NOT be in the season finale of _Angel_, supposedly. And I had such high hopes! But this means at least she won't be getting together with Spike…ha! If Angel can't have her, no one will!!! (BA all the way! Sorry all you Spuffy people.)

Author's Notes: See above rant. Plus the fact that  I WANT REVIEWS!!! Feedback, people!

Sunnydale, California, 1999

Cordelia wiped a tear from her eye, and, for once, it was not shed because of her own misfortune. She was reading the same Watcher's diary she had read aloud to Giles earlier, but now she was actually _reading _it, letting each word stamp itself firmly into her memory, and, consequently, her tear ducts. This stuff was more tragic than Romeo and Juliet.

            _June 29, 1955._

_            Still cannot get over my grief. _

_            Of course, Roger is doing his best to understand, but I can't tell him everything. Its funny that at my age a woman would still run to her stepfather, but at least Roger tries. Not that the others don't try. Michael has been wonderful, and so has Penny, but they don't know. I can't confide to even my husband or best friend. I have never felt so alone. At least I can live in the memory that _one _person, gone as they are, understood. People die. Memories will not. _

_                        -H.D._

            _Not only tragic, but deep too, _Cordelia thought. Suddenly a noise was heard from the library door. A snarling noise.

            "Oh, shut up," Cordelia grumped at the vampire, lifting her crossbow. She sighed with the air of one that has repeated a tiresome task over and over again in a short amount of time. "Don't make me use this."

            The vampire hesitated, as if unsure of what to do. Should he carry out the task he had been ordered to do, or should he face the inevitable wrath of the unfazed woman before him? Job won out, and he charged. Cordelia fired and hit him on the wrong side of his torso. "Crap," she muttered, loading another…bolt? Arrow? She had no idea what these things were called, only that you shot them out of a crossbow at vampires that did not date Buffy.

            The pain stopped the vampire for a minute, though, and he looked down at the stick protruding from his chest.

            When he looked up he found another whizzing toward him. This one hit closer to the heart, but still missed. This time he was ready. He ran for Cordelia.

            "Oh, well," she said, whacking him over the head with the crossbow, stunning him. She then pulled another of the crossbow stick things from her bag and used it to stake him. She sneezed as dust surrounded her. "How lovely."

***

Sunnydale, California 1954

The battle was on…between Willow and Miss Ford. 

            "No, you see," Willow was saying, "sage is used in the cleansing spells, not protection spells."

            "But I've used it for protection many times," Miss Ford protested.

            "Are you sure it wasn't witch hazel?" Willow asked.

            Miss Ford snorted in an uncharacteristically unladylike way. "I think I know the difference between sage and witch hazel."

            "Oh! Are you thinking of _pineapple_ sage?"

            Miss Ford thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose I am," she said rather sheepishly.

            Willow smiled, but it wasn't gloating. Willow, of all people, did not gloat.

            They reached the cemetery where Buffy suggested they spread out in groups of two. But Willow objected, saying that there was an odd number and what would happen if the one alone got attacked or kidnapped or killed or…

            She was interrupted by Cassie. "Why don't we split off into two groups? There was argument over who would be in whose group. Both groups wanted Willow with them for magical protection. They ended up searching the cemetery as one big group. One big, loud, conspicuous group, but one group just the same.

            The search turned up nothing anyway.

            "Where to now?" Buffy asked.

            "The dark side…of town," Cassie said dramatically. Then in her normal voice, "We can cut through the woods over here."

            The two slayers, the watcher, the vampire and the witch made their way across the graveyard  toward the patch of woods at the other side. 

            Upon entering the woods, Buffy noticed the silence. No really, the absolute silence. No crickets chirped. No animals rustled in the brush. No owls hooted. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath rather than disturb the woods.

            "Why do I have…?"

            "…a bad feeling about this?" Cassie finished nervously. "Probably because of that."

            She pointed ahead, where ominous-looking occult figures adorned the trees and symbolic articles hung from the branches.

            "It's like the Blair Witch Project," Buffy breathed.

            "The what?"

            The group silently pressed on, ready to react at the slightest danger. Presently the woods began to thin. "Where are we?" Buffy whispered.

            "Miller's Field," Cassie told her. The name was unfamiliar. Buffy glanced at Willow. 

"Housing development," the witch said simply.

"Oh."

The slience was broken by a crackling sound. "Fire," Angel said.

The group drew closer to the flickering orange light, which almost seemed to taunt them: _Come on then, if you're all so brave. Let's see how well you do. _

Angel suddenly spun around. "They're surrounding us," he whispered, so low that most people whose senses had not been heightened by fear would not have heard. "Get re—"

In a split second the vampires were on them. And it wasn't just vampires, Buffy realized as she fought off a winged, horned thing. It was demons of all kinds as well.

She spotted, over by the fire, four bound and gagged teenagers. Two faced away from her—_I hope they're not dead_—one looked as though he had lost the will to live at all, but the last one stared at her frantically. Buffy raced to untie them.

_When this is over,_ she thought, _I'm treating myself to a nice big ice cream sundae._

***

Sunnydale, California 1999

July 1, 1955 

_Her birthday is—was—next week._

_How cruel for her to be taken from the Earth so close to her birthday. I can rest assured she will have a grand celebration in Heaven and will keep the Lord up until all hours with that song—_Johnny Angel_, her favorite._

_Yesterday the Council contacted me. They want this journal, to add to their files. I can't give it away. This is my last tangible piece of her, the last of her essence that I can pick up and hold in my hands, aside from a few bad photographs and her favorite stake. Even her jacket was taken away from me. Whenever I picture her, I picture her Jacket. The Jacket that some silly boy gave her. It seems so long ago.  Almost yesterday, it seems,  that she came to me house, announcing that she was in love. Of course, the 'love' faded, but the Jacket somehow stayed. No matter the weather, she always wore her Sunnydale High School Varsity Football Jacket. _

_I don't even think she liked football. I suppose I'll never know._

_The boy took it back after she died. I suppose he wanted a memento, too. But what about me? I miss her so…_

_However, thus ends my record. The Council will get this journal one way or another. I might as well give it up willingly, so as not to insult her memory. Maybe it will help me move on, though I realize in some ways I don't want to. I sleep with her stake under my pillow. Hopefully Michael won't notice._

_Cassie, I wish you could come back._

_                                              --Henrietta Paulette Ford Day_

_                                                                                             1955_

_. Watcher of Cassandra Mae Hall from 1953-1955_

*****

What do you think??? FEEDBACK!!!!

**mistymidnight**


	10. Cordelia And Giles Get Stuck

Chapter 10 

Oh, joy! I've hit the double digits!!!

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon. Mutant Enemy. Various writers, directors, gaffers, producers, best boys, camera people, makeup artists, lighting techs, stunt coordinators, fight choreographers, special effects techs, etc. etc. etc.

            BUT CASSIE AND MISS FORD (and others associated with their reality) ARE ALL MINE!!!!!

Rating: PG, as usual. Kids, get you parents to read this over your shoulder. (Just kidding)

Sunnydale, California 1954

            "Hey, you," Buffy said to the tied and gagged teenagers before her. "I'm here to save you." She cringed inwardly, noting how corny that sounded. _Note to self: get more heroic lines._ She began to cut the ropes of the girl closest to her with the Swiss army knife she always kept with her. Her skirt had no pockets, but she had kept it tied inside it by the little chain thing it came on.  _If Principal Snyder ever finds it on me, I am so expelled,_ she thought. Then, _I wonder if there really is a Swiss Army. Do they actually use these things? How come I can't buy a Swiss Army hand grenade? Oh, no…stay on task, Buffy._

            She finished with the ropes of the first girl and didn't even bother wasting time on the gag. The girl could pull it off herself, later.

            "Run," Buffy ordered, and the girl did as she was told.

            Buffy watched her for a moment, then moved on to the next prisoner.

***

Sunnydale, California 1999

            "Giles?" Cordelia called from the library table, trying to keep her balance. "Is there supposed to be an earthquake here?"

            "Probably not," Giles answered. Apocalypses failed to amaze or terrify him anymore. All he needed to do to solve the problem was read his books—

            "Giles, what if the floor cracks open?"

            —if he didn't keep getting interrupted.

            "Then find something to plug it up with, Cordelia," he answered flatly, turning the page. "And while you're at it, do find something to plug up your mouth with, too."

            There was a pause, then…

            "Giles, did you just insult me for, like, the fifth time today?"

            "I suppose so."

            There was a small silence in which Cordelia broke into a grin. "There may be hope for you yet."

***

Sunnydale, California 1954

Buffy cut the third prisoner free and sent her running off into the woods. She moved on to the last one, but was stopped by a vampire. 

"You have taken the others," he said. "You will not take this one."

"Hel-lo? People here, not fast food. And why is this one so important anyway?"

"It doesn't matter to you, human. Soon, nothing will matter."

"Doesn't sound promising. I assume you weren't saving these people as snacks for the post-apocalyptic battle party?"

"They were going to be turned," said another vampire, coming up behind the first. 

"Erika, you moron, you just ruined the entire plan," the first vampire said, sounding extremely irritated. 

"Oh, it's not like they wouldn't have figured it out anyway."

"Thanks for the tip, guys," Buffy said sweetly, staking them quickly, one after the other. "I really appreciate—"

"Fight now, talk later," Cassie said, grabbing Buffy's Swiss Army knife from her other hand and cutting the last would-be victim free. 

"Got it," Buffy said, dashing over to help out. Willow had managed…nothing magical, but she was repeatedly whacking a vampire while she waited for an opportunity to stake it. Miss Ford was holding her own, and Angel was taking on two vamps at a time. Buffy staked one as she passed, and got a brief grateful look from Angel 

She practically dove into a group of chanting demons, hoping whatever magic they were conjuring wouldn't kill her. It didn't. But she would have a hard time explaining the teal-tinted skin to Mom. Hopefully it would wash off. If it didn't…oh well, she'd worry about that later. Right now it was all about the fight.

***

Sunnydale, California 1999

"GIII-LLLEEESS!!!" Cordelia screeched, her voice shrill with terror. "Giles! They're here!!!"

Giles hurried over to the library office door, where he saw Cordelia running for the weapons cage and preparing to lock herself in. 

"Cordelia, this is no way to behave. You can't save the world from inside the weapons cage."

"Tell that to them," she said, pointing toward the door where five vampires, a horned slime demon, and a black shadowy thing were entering.

"Well, let me in!" Giles cried frantically, locking the weapons cage, shoving his way into it beside Cordelia, slamming the door, and putting the keys on the floor on the other side. 

"Get some weapons," he told her. "Hand-to-hand ones are useless, but the crossbows and things should work."

"How am I supposed to kill doom and gloom?!" she asked, pointing toward the shadowy thing. "It looks like arrows or whatever will go right through him. Her. It."

"Don't be fooled," Giles muttered. "It's as corporeal as you or me." He turned to the demon. "Fancy trick, didn't fool us for a second!" The demon shot a spray of yellow liquid toward Giles, who dodged out of the way. 

"Ewww, toss your cookies someplace else," Cordelia shuddered, loading the crossbow and taking careful aim. Luckily, the shadow thing was more interested in spitting at Giles than it was in her. She pulled the trigger and the arrow whizzed through the air…straight into the demon's head. It slumped over and fell. Cordelia could not resist cheering for herself, performing a little cheerleading routine while she was at it. 

"Cordelia, do smarten up," Giles begged, taking the crossbow from the dancing cheerleader and aiming for one of the vampires, who was stupid enough to stand still and stare at Giles. This ultimately got him dusted.

Another vampire had the nerve to walk right up to the weapons cage. Entwining his fingers through the cage links, he taunted, "Is that the best you got, old man?" He completely ignored the "harmless" dancing cheerleader, who was now dancing her way on over towards a pile of stakes. Giles fumbled for another arrow, but realized he was all out. "Oh no," he groaned, heading for the weapons trunk where the others were stored. "Give me your best shot," the vampire said, laughing. "Oh, no, wait, you can't!" This set him off into hysterical laughter, which stopped abruptly when he noticed the stake sticking out of his chest.

"And surprisingly, that wasn't even my best," Cordelia said. "You must really be bad at this. Perhaps you're in the wrong line of work?"

The vampire glared at her and exploded. Cordelia tossed the stake in the air, attempted to catch it, missed, and watched it fall to the ground.

By now, Giles had reloaded the crossbow. He aimed up toward the stacks, which was a difficult thing to do, considering the angle he was shooting from. The horned slime demon was looking through his books. "Hey, you!" he shouted to the demon, who turned around. "I hope you're willing to pay damage fines on that book." He fired. He hit his mark.

"Where're those last ones?" Cordelia asked.

"Ran away, I suppose," Giles said, trying to get a panorama of his surrounding. Unfortunately, the library cage did not offer a very easy view. He reached for the keys and remembered, too late, that the door did not unlock from the inside. "Oh, how smashing."

"We're stuck in here, aren't we?" Cordelia asked, deflated.

"Yes."

Cordelia looked around frantically, the reality of the situation setting in. "Don't take my air! This is _my _air, Giles!"

He gave here a dubious look. "Cordelia, we aren't going to suffocate. The cage has openings in between the bars."

"Oh. Right." Cordelia relaxed a little. "So all, we can do is sit here?"

"Ye—no, wait." 

"Oh, God. What?"

Giles said nothing, but directed his gaze to the window about five feet above their heads. Cordelia saw it and groaned. 

"Oh, Jeez, what will we have to do next?"

***

Sunnydale, California 1954

Buffy delivered a backhand to the right side of her opponent's face, brought her knee up to his stomach, then grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him to the ground, where she promptly staked him. 

"Dust to dust, I always say," she chirped at the disintegrating vampire. "No, wait, I don't."

"Go to—" the vampire exploded into a pile of dust.

"No thanks, had a friend who visited there. Apparently it's a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there." She scuffed at the pile with her flip-flop. She was really beginning to regret her clothing choice for the day. Cassie had offered to lend her some clothes, but they wouldn't have fit anyway, which would have posed similar problems to the ones she was having now.

She didn't have time to think after she heard the terrified scream. Cassie's terrified scream.

*****

Feedback please!!!

I'm gonna write a couple other stories, possibly. Please read and rate them, when they come out, and please read and rate my current story, Cordelia's Diary. Please, please, pretty please? (while I still have some dignity—please!) And email is always appreciated, too, even if you write something stupid like, "Hi. Read your story. Bye." PLEASE???


	11. Worst Nightmare

Chapter 11 

Need I repeat the disclaimer, rating, etc.? You've obviously read the other chapters and know all that stuff already. If you haven't and you just chose a random story and a random chapter, well, I'm pleased it was _my_ random story and _this_ random chapter. Okay, mindless babbling done.

            Except…

            This story's rating has been changed to PG-13. Don't ask, I won't tell.

Author's Notes: Okay, the lack of feedback is now a less severe lack of feedback, but a lack all the same. You people write 22 chapters of fanfic. Would it kill you to write two sentences of review? It would really make my day…

***

Sunnydale, California 1954

            "Cassie!" Buffy screamed, running for the direction from which the scream had come. She finally approached a small crowd of demons and vampires. Miss Ford, Willow, and Angel stood on the edge, desperately trying to process the situation. Buffy pushed through the crowd, staking the occasional vampire as she went along. She had to get to Cassie. She _had_ to.

            When she finally got a clear line of vision, she saw two vampires holding Cassie by the arms while another held her legs. A fourth approached menacingly.

            "Help" Cassie screamed. "Buffy, help me!"

            "On it." Buffy ran for Cassie, staking the fourth vampire as she passed. An all-out fight erupted, and Buffy lost sight of Cassie in the shuffle. She hoped she was doing okay. But something didn't feel right.

            Buffy fought to get to Cassie, knocking several vampires out of the way. "Cassie!" she yelled. "Cassie!" This wasn't right. Cassie definitely would have answered if she was able. 

            "_Cassie!_" Buffy screamed hysterically. "CASSIE!!!"

            "Buffy?" came a faint reply.

            "Cassie? Where are you? Hold on!" Buffy yelled, fighting her way through the vampires, demons, and other assorted fiends. "I'm coming, Cassie! Just hang on!"

            There she was! But she was lying on the ground. Her eyes were open, staring, and her neck was craned at an impossible angle. "Cassie!" Buffy cried, her breath catching in a strangled sob. "Cassie!"

            From behind Buffy came a chuckle. "Well, well, well."

            Buffy spun around, her fist out. The vampire was knocked backwards by the blow, but she still stood. "Nice aim," she grinned evilly at Buffy. Buffy recalled the phrase as being the first words Cassie ever spoke to her. "But unfortunately for you, your timing is horrible." Buffy lashed out toward the vampire, who took a step back. 

            "You _killed _her!" she screamed.

            The vampire's grin became wider. "What did you think I was going to do, invite her to the sock hop?"

            Buffy let out a sob as the vampire walked around Cassie's body, surveying her work. "The original plan was to sire her friends, have a grand old time torturing her, turn her, and send her after the Watcher." She stopped and looked at Buffy. "I had to go with this, unfortunately."

            "Don't say 'her'," Buffy growled. "'She' had a name. It was Cassie."

            "Hmmm, rhymes with 'sassy'," the vampire said. "Bet you'll miss that about her."

            Buffy's anger exploded. She kicked the vampire in the stomach, harder than she could ever remember kicking a vampire before. The vampire fell to the ground. Buffy got her stake ready. The vampire grinned. "Go ahead, stake me. I don't care." 

            Buffy paused for a split second, looked at her stake, then hurled it into the woods. She hauled the vampire to her feet.

            "I am going to make this death as long and painful for you as I possibly can," Buffy snarled, just before she hit the vampire to the ground again.

***

Sunnydale, California 1999

"Can—you—reach—it—now?" Giles asked with difficulty.

            "Almost," Cordelia said, reaching as far as she could for the window. "Why do we keep a werewolf in this cage if it's so easy to break out of?"

            "Easy?!" Giles demanded, his shoulders shaking with Cordelia's weight. "_Easy?!_" 

            Cordelia fell off his shoulders and the two of them tumbled to the ground. "Look what you did!" she screeched. "Now I'm gonna bruise!"

            "You're sitting on my windpipe," Giles rasped.

            "Who cares about your dumb old air supply?" Cordelia asked. _"I am going to BRUISE!!!"_ She got up anyway. "Now what?"

            "If at first you don't succeed—"

            "Get the crossbow."

            Giles frowned. "That wasn't exactly what I was going to say—" 

            Cordelia made a wild dive for the crossbow. "Watch out!" A vampire tumbled in through the window Cordelia had managed to open a bit, except he had opened it a lot more. Cordelia shot him. Of course, she missed. She wasn't used to handling weapons.

            Giles reached out of nowhere with a stake and killed the thing. 

            "Phew," Cordelia sighed. Then she informed him, "No way am I going up there again. We'll have to find another way out."

            "There _is_ no other way out."

            Cordelia heaved a great shuddering sigh. "Whenever you're ready," she told him, and Giles prepared his shoulders for another five minutes of Gucci heels embedded in them.

***

Sunnydale California 1954

Angel, Miss Ford, and Willow were desperate. They were doing little to thin out the battle themselves; they needed the Slayers. 

Suddenly, the demons and vampires thinned out.. Angel, Willow, and Miss Ford craned their necks to see what was happening. And see they did.

Buffy stood at the other side of the crowd holding Cassie's body in her arms. She struggled with the dead weight as she walked toward them with tears pouring down her face. She collapsed a few feet in front of them, lacking the strength to go on. Willow and Angel stood in shock, then moved to the ground beside Buffy. Angel kissed her cheek gently and brushed the hair from her face, and Willow scooped her best friend into a hug. But Miss Ford just stood, staring at Cassie's body. 

            "Miss Ford?" Buffy said, slowly standing. "Miss Ford, I-I'm s-sorry. I c-couldn't make it in t-time…it's m-my f-fault…"

            Miss Ford's blank look didn't go away.

            "I…" Buffy paused. "I'll miss her. I already do."

            Miss Ford looked at Buffy. Her face crumpled and she brought her hand up to her mouth. "Oh God," she gasped. "She's really gone." She broke down crying. "My Cassie is dead!" Buffy pulled the slightly older woman into a hug and they both fell to the ground, sobbing. 

            "Buffy," Willow said softly, "we have to go."

            "I can't," Buffy wept. "I have to stay for her."

            "We can't," Angel explained. "The only way we can get back is if we leave before the day is over. If we don't we're stuck here forever."

            "It's five of midnight," Willow said quietly. "We have to do it now."

            "One minute," Buffy said. She leaned over and hugged Miss Ford again. "Miss Ford, _promise_ me you'll take care of yourself." Miss Ford nodded.

            "I will miss Cassie my entire life," she continued. "And I will miss you, too. I'm sorry I couldn't save—"

            Miss Ford looked Buffy in the eyes. Both women's eyes were wet and red from crying, and Buffy's mascara was running down her face.

            "It was not your fault," Miss Ford said firmly. "It was inevitable. Cassie would not want you to feel guilty. Please, I'll be fine. Go home with your friends. I can assure you, Cassie will be happy if you do."

            Buffy nodded slowly, then hugged the woman one last time. She moved to get up, but then decided she had one thing left to do. Leaning over, she brushed the hair from Cassie's face and hugged the corpse. She stood up and walked over to Willow and Angel. Angel held her hand tightly. Buffy cast one final look after Miss Ford, and watched as she cradled Cassie's head in her hands, then kissed her cold forehead. Buffy's heart broke.

            Willow lit the candle she had carried with her to the battle and arranged the sacred objects in a circle. Then she grabbed Buffy's hand and chanted,

                        _Undo that which has been altered,_

_                        Times untrue to order_

_                        And clarify the line that once formed_

_                        A blurry and indistinct border._

_                        Restore to us our normal time_

_                        And, we pray to thee,_

_                        Release the wandering traveler,_

_                        And again let us roam free._

Buffy felt a rush of wind and held more tightly to Willow and Angel's hands. She couldn't lose them too. Never.

****************************************************************************************************

Okay, we're in the final stretch of this story. Sorry it's so sad. I don't know if my writing conveyed the sadness well enough, but just the idea of what happened is about to make me cry! Don't let me cry for nothing (guilt trip!) Please send feedback.

*mistymidnight*


	12. Loose Ends

See previous chapters for the rating, disclaimer, etc. Thanks. 

Sands of Time 

Here it is—the final chapter. 

I'd like to thank everyone who read my story, with the spotlight on 

~buffy13-buffyspike4eva

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for emailing in their thoughts.

On a personal note:

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**And to everyone who simply read my story, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU times a bazillion! (It would've been nice of you to review as well, though…**

**OKAY…on with the chapter…the final chapter**

Chapter 12

Sunnydale, California 1999

            Cordelia grabbed hold of the handle of the window. "Got it!" she cried.

            "Well, now what?" Giles asked.

            Cordelia snorted. "This is your plan, genius."

            There was a bright flash of light in the library. Cordelia screamed and fell off Giles's shoulders, startled.

            "Honey, I'm home," Buffy said half-heartedly from the library. Giles and Cordelia twisted around from their uncomfortable positions (sitting in a heap on the floor will do that to you) and Giles scrambled for the keys. 

            "Here," he said, shoving them through the links of the weapons cage, "Will you please unlock us?"

            Angel strode over and unlocked the door. Giles began to leave the cage, but was shoved out of the way by Cordelia.

            "So where's this apocalypse I'm supposed to be fighting?" Buffy asked. 

            "Gone, I'd assume," Giles answered from his place on the floor. "Since you are back in the present time, the past has been altered."

            "Then how come we can remember it?" Buffy asked. 

            "Because we were involved in it, I'd assume," Giles answered.

            "Oh hey," Cordelia said, walking over to the Watcher's Diaries, which lay open on the table where she'd left them. "Did you happen to meet someone named Cassandra?" 

            Buffy nodded, about to cry. Cordelia barreled on, not even noticing. "'Cause I feel bad for her. The Watcher's Diaries say she was 'totured by those she once called friends,' or something. Listen to this." She picked up the Watcher's Diary, frowned, and began to flip pages. "I don't remember this entry," she mumbled. Then she looked up. "Giles! The whole book has changed!" 

            "Cassie died," Buffy said quietly. "I guess we stopped her from being tortured like that."

            Willow patted her friend on the shoulder. "See, look at that! You helped her."

            "Yeah," Buffy said quietly. "I guess. Hey guys, I'm really tired. I'm gonna head home."

            "See you later," Willow said, hugging her. "Call if you want to talk."

            Angel gave her a quick kiss goodbye. "Take care."

            "Bye," Cordelia said unceremoniously. 

            Giles nodded his goodbye, and Buffy left.

                                                *            *            *

            The woods. They glowered at her. 'You couldn't save her,' the trees seemed to say, swaying in the wind. 'Too late, too late,' it whispered.

_            "Well," Cassie exclaimed. "This sure is a depressing dream if I ever saw one." The scenery around Buffy changed, and she was standing in a glowing light. Cassie was next to her._

_            Buffy turned to look at the Slayer. She was dressed in modern clothes: a black miniskirt with blue flowers and a vine embroidered on it, and a sleeveless blue top with cinched straps. The top layer was flowy, see-through material, and the bottom layer was normal fabric, tight. There were flip-flops with blue straps on her feet, and her toenails were painted white. _

_            And, slouchy on her shoulders and clashing with the rest of her outfit, was the Sunnydale Varsity Football Team jacket. _

_            Cassie shrugged. "What can I say?" she said. "I like your style. And I just couldn't part with the jacket."_

_            Buffy finally found something to say. "I'm so sorry, Cassie."_

_            Cassie shrugged again. "Everyone dies sometime."_

_            "But I could have—"_

_            Cassie cut her off with a wave of her hand. "Buffy, listen to me. I'm happy. I'm in Heaven, I think. And I'm sorry…I'm sorry that you feel guilty. You shouldn't."_

_            "Why shouldn't I?" Buffy asked. "If only I'd…" she tried to pinpoint exactly what she could have done differently, but couldn't._

_            "There you go," Cassie said. "You prevented me from months of torture and a horrible death just by coming." She paused. "And don't ask me how I know about my 'other death', so to speak, because I don't know how I know. I just do, and I'm thankful that you stopped it from happening."_

_            Buffy nodded. She was beginning to understand, despite Cassie's confusing way of speaking._

_            "Now listen," Cassie said. "You aren't going to sleep forever. I need to tell you this. Listen carefully. _

_            "Keep fighting. There is _always_ something worth fighting for. Don't ever forget that."_

_            Buffy nodded._

_            "Now, I have a favor to ask." She chuckled. "As if you haven't done enough favors for me already, I know. But anyway, tomorrow, tell Miss Ford my message."_

_            "What is your message?" Buffy asked._

_            "You'll know," Cassie told her. "At eleven by the sun, the task will be done."_

_            "Now you're getting cryptic on me," Buffy said, smiling a little._

_            "It's my prerogative," Cassie teased, grinning at her. "I'm dead."_

_            "But I still don't know your message to Miss Ford," Buffy said._

_            "Oh, yeah, it's Mrs. Day now," Cassie reminded her. "That should help you out. She got married. August of '54. It was beautiful. I cried." Cassie grinned. "So did she. I bet she'd never admit it, though." Cassie got a faraway look on her face. "She was so strong," she said, almost to herself. "For both of us. The mother I never had, the sister I always wanted. Tell her that for me, would you?"_

_            Buffy nodded for what seemed like the millionth time. "I have question, though," she said quickly. "Why can't you just tell her yourself?"_

_            "These dreams are a Slayer thing," Cassie explained. "There's an advantage if I ever saw one."_

_            "How come I can't talk to Kendra, then?"_

_            "Kendra isn't one for fuzzy heart-to-hearts. She says she hopes you're putting Mr. Pointy to good use, though."_

_            "Tell her I am," Buffy said._

_            "Okay. Goodbye, Buffy," Cassie said. She began to fade away, then seemed to remember something.  "I miss you too."_

_            She was gone._

            Buffy awoke with a start. Sunlight was streaming through the windows of her room. She glanced at her digital clock. Nine fifty-eight.  _Wow, that's late,_ she thought. _Well, if you're me._

            She pulled the covers off and padded over to her closet to decide what to wear for the day.  She pulled open the door…and there on the first hanger, was a Sunnydale High School Varsity jacket. 1954.

                                                            *            *            *

            "Are you ready?" Willow asked Buffy.

            "As I'll ever be," Buffy replied, nervously reaching for the doorbell.

            After a few seconds, a woman in her late seventies answered. "Hello?"

            "Miss F—Mrs. Day?" Buffy asked.

            The woman studied her for a moment. "Buffy?"

            Buffy nodded.  "I had a dream last night," she said. "Cassie told me to tell you something."

            "Come in," Mrs. Day said to the girls. "and, uh—"

            "Willow," Willow reminded the elderly woman. It was strange to know that just yesterday she had been twenty-something.

            "You said that Cassie spoke to you?" Mrs. Day prompted. 

            "She gave me this message," Buffy said, reaching into the pocket of her coat. Mrs. Day recognized it. 

"Her jacket," she breathed. "Where did you get it?"

"When I woke up after the dream, it was hanging in the closet. This was in the pocket. It's for you. I didn't read it." She handed the note to Mrs. Ford, who read it and handed it back to Buffy, teary eyed.

"You can read it."

Buffy smoothed out the note and read it. 

"I think you might want keep this," she said when she was finished. "She also said to tell you that you were like a mother and a sister to her. I thought you might want to know that."

"Thank you," Mrs. Ford whispered. "Goodbye, girls."

Buffy and Willow walked through the foyer of the house and past the front garden where the sundial showed eleven 'o clock.

                                                *            *            *

_To My Dear Watcher:_

_I miss you. I miss how you'd always call me Cassandra instead of Cassie, how you'd tell me to mend the tear in my jacket, and most of all, I miss you smile and your laugh._

_But I'm safe. I'm happy. I'm with my parents, and they're great, but they don't measure up to you. They know it, I know it, and I wanted you to know it. You were always there. You kept me in line, you kept me safe. And I never really listened. Well, it's your turn now, but listen. Love your life. You don't always have to play by the rules. I didn't, and I loved my life until the end. I want that for you, too._

_                                    Love,_

_                                                Cassandra_

_P.S. I mended the sweater. I know Buffy will take care of it._

********************************************************************************************

Okay, in the words of some famous actress I forget the name of:

"That's all there is, there isn't any more!" 

Hope you all enjoyed. I love happy endings and I didn't want the end to be too angst-y and depressing, thus the dream visitations, etc. I liked it. Did you?? FEEDBACK!!!! Just cause I'm finished writing it doesn't mean I don't love feedback!  PLEASE!!!

Also, please read my other stories:

~Cordelia's Diary    (general)

            _Cordelia writes down her thoughts from season one to season three._

~The We Hate Buffy Club    (humor)

            _Sunnydale's demons are sick and tired of Buffy, so the unite…and complain._

~Breakfast at Dawn   (humor)

            _A nine-year-old Dawn wakes up early to make breakfast for her mom…really early. But not too early to start one of Joyce's 'my-daughter-has-put-me-at-the-end-of-my-rope' days. _

~Monkey Brains      (humor)

            _Buffy plays a trick on five-year-old Dawn as revenge…_

~Staking My Sister   (humor)

            _Yet another Buffy/Dawn sister fic from me. Buffy demonstrates what she does on patrol._

And, coming soon…(maybe)

~Prophecies Series     (drama/action/adventure)

     Part I—"Abby" 

             _A mysterious girl arrives in Sunnydale, seeking the help of Giles. But the more the gang finds out about her, the less they know for sure._

~Correspondence     (general/humor)

            _The emails of the Scoobies, post-Chosen._

IMPORTANT!!! 

IF YOU WANT ME TO PUBLISH THE ABOVE FICS, EMAIL ME ABOUT THEM OR MENTION IT IN YOUR REVIEW.

Any and all comments are appreciated. Thanks for being so great, everyone!

*mistymidnight*


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